The case about Ned Thompson
by Ellen Julie
Summary: The police in Knoxville, Tennessee receives a tip from the serial killer Ned Thompson. The BAU is dragged into the mess as new crimes are being added to the case. Temporaily back from hiatus.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

Location: Knoxville Prison, Tennessee:

He couldn't take it anymore. Flashes of light and darkness went on and on. Flashes of memories he only longed to forget. But knew he couldn't. They were forever burned into his mind.

He firmly gripped his bed, his knuckles turning white. But he didn't bother. He had to control himself. To protect himself.

The pictures haunted him. Their faces…afraid, helpless… pleading him to release them. Fear in their eyes, but also hope. Hope that he, in spite of everything would still help them.

He remembered how he himself had been helpless. This couldn't be stopped.

And the worst of all was the look they gave him, when they realised he wasn't going to help them. When they realised they were going to die.

He remembered how the life had faded away from their eyes. It was all there.

And now it was gone.

Smells filled his nose… smells of earth, leaves and blood.

The blood… it was sticky and warm. And it was all over him. He stood up, frantically trying to get it off himself while crying uncontrollably. It marked him. It was never going to be okay.

It was his entire fault. How could he do this? Why was he doing this?

He screamed and screamed. Kept hitting him self while crying.

The prison door was opened quickly. Three officers hurried towards him to keep him from hurting himself any further.

"_Mr. Thompson, get a grip of your self!"_ But it was no good. He wasn't listening. The fear had consumed him completely.

"_He must be punished!"_

In the midst of the struggle, he suddenly relaxed. The officers looked surprised, but maintained a firm grip as Thompson calmly spoke.

"_I would like to make a confession"._


	2. Introduction

**Chapter one: ****Introduction.**

Time: Tuesday the 11th of January 2005. 

Location: University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Mia was bent over the table, carefully examining a fractured femur from an adult man. Or at least it seemed to be from an adult man. It was difficult to determine precisely. This specifically thigh bone was about 20 cm long – the part closest to the knee was broken off. It looked like that fracture had happened after death. _"Nothing special about that"_, Mia thought by herself. Stretching her back, she took a glance at the clock, 4 pm. She felt her stomach rumble… she had again forgotten all about lunch. That happened a lot when she got carried away by exciting new studies at the university lab. Reasoning she deserved a break she made her way to the door. A voice in her head reminded her of her lunch appointment with her professor, Dr. Milford. Usually when they agreed to eat together he would come by the lab to remind her. But something apparently had come up.

As she went for the cafeteria, hoping she could charm herself to a leftover sandwich from the caterer Betty, she wondered about Dr. Milford's whereabouts. She had not seen him since this morning, and she found that strange. Normally he would be all over the lab, if he was not teaching one of his classes. Dr Charles Milford, or just plain "professor" as she was used to call him, was a Professor in Forensic Anthropology at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He was Mia's mentor on her PhD in Forensic Anthropology. Recently she had begun to feel the pressure as there were less than 3 months left to her finals. She had never dealt well with high expectations. Instantly she had the familiar feeling of her insides turning over – the usual feeling that followed when she was uneasy and nervous. She pushed the thought away. It would be alright. Dr. Milford was a very good teacher plus he was great to exchange ideas and thoughts with. And just to have a great time with, too. Actually they were not very formal at all, something Mia found very pleasant and relaxing.

Mia smiled as she thought about how the two of them had met.

It had been around the time Mia just was finishing her MSc in Forensic Archaeology at Bournemouth University, England. Dr. Milford was a guest lecturer there, and Mia had frequently discussed different subjects with the professor after classes. At the end of his last lecture, Mia had knocked on his office door to _"discuss a question she had". _That had let to a long debate about the best methods to use during location of clandestine graves, and how to excavate them properly. They had eventually ended up that night at the professor's hotel, still discussing. Mia was determinate to try out a project idea she had, and asked Dr, Milford for guidance. The professor saw some potential in Mia, and agreed to be her supervisor at her PhD project: _Location of clandestine graves; the perspectives of applying elementals of archaeological fieldwork to forensic anthropology._

After a while they had ended up becoming rather good friends, despite the large age difference – Dr. Milford was 46 and Mia 21 years at that time. But that really didn't matter. Mia liked having the professor as her friend. She hadn't told him, but it felt nice to have a sort of "surrogate father" around. Mia was an exchange student from Denmark, so she had been away from family and friends a lot the last five years.

At home she had been studying prehistoric archaeology and anthropology. During high school she really had no idea what to do about her self afterwards. So she had decided to pursue a live-long interest in archaeology and get her hobby as a job. She didn't recall the exact moment she had decided to study abroad, but she definitely had no regrets about it. Yet she missed her family and friends very much. Facebook, mails and telephone wasn't really the same as visiting her friends almost every day as she was used to in Denmark. But she had made good friends during her studying in England and the US. Friends she defiantly would keep in contact with.

The cafeteria was almost deserted besides from a few people sitting with coffee and cake at a corner table. She gave Betty her most charming smile as she said _"Boy, that last sandwich – that looks lonely. Shouldn't I take care of that?" _

"_We are closed – technically… but I did put this one aside for you – knowing your weird eating habits"_, Betty said with a chuckle. _"And now don't you work too long!!" _Betty said to Mia's back as she yelled her _"tanks"_ and hurried up to the lab. She had just gotten an idea – that thigh bone… there was something that didn't add up, and she thought she perhaps had got it right now.

Opening the door to the lab, she found the professor in there, looking both exited and terrified. _"Hey Mia. You know the big case about_ _Ned Thompson, right. The one the news is really fussing a lot about at the moment?"_ Mia nodded. Sure she knew. The papers had written a lot about this serial killer and his many victims these days. He was sentenced to death for 6 murders he had committed in the 1980´ties. First he had violated his victims by torturing and burning them. Then strangulated the victims with steel wire and finishing off with a blow to the head with a hammer. It wasn't so much strangulation as it was almost decapitation. The blow to the head almost wasn't necessarily. It was some unusually brutally murders committed in a great rage. This stood in sharp contrast to Ned Thompson's nature. He was an unusual polite, gentle and generally happy person, and that was - of course - the creepy part, thought Mia. How could such a charming, polite man commit such brutal and gruesome murders and at the same time be so casual about it? Ned had always pleaded himself as innocent, and had had several appeals for his case. But now time was finally catching up. The case was about to be closed at last after 16 years of court practice.

"_Sure I know about him __Professor. Are there any news on that case?"_

Dr. Milford looked up from his papers, preoccupied, _"Yes indeed there are! Uhm…Mr. Thompson has revealed the location of some hidden graves in the nearby forest. He claims them to be the remains of Eliza Warden, Alice Burrow and Kirsten Mackenzie. It seems our good Mr. Thompson had the urge to own up to the crimes of some of his unknown victims. The police have asked me to help excavate the graves. I think you should join me – it could be good fieldwork to include in your forthcoming PhD assignment." _

Before Charlie had mentioned the last sentence, she had already snatched for her bag, packed down the sandwich and put on her jacket. _"Well after you then, professor." _she said with a big smile. 


	3. The results of a confession

**A/N: **This story takes place between "Sex, birth, death" and "No way out". So potential spoilers for season 1 and 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds – I do own my own characters.

- Thanks to a striking mind for beta reading this story.

- Please review: what did you like/dislike?? Any suggestions for future chapters?

**Chapter 2: The results of a confession.**

Time: Tuesday the 11th of January 2005. 

Location: Dumpsite.

At 5.00 PM Dr. Milford's dusty old blue ford drove up towards the small forest road. As they reached the end, they noticed lots of people.

The small clearing was buzzing with activity. Several policemen were guarding a seemingly nonexistent animal trail where the woods were especially thick. As Charlie and Mia came closer, it became quite clear that someone had been walking there recently.

A senior policeman approached them – and immediately recognised Dr. Milford. With his hand stretched forward he said _"Hello Charles. I'm glad you had the time to come by. I know how busy you can be sometimes."_

"_Hello Niels. I'm glad to be of assistance. It is quite an important case, this one. _

Niels scratched the back of his head absent mined. _"Yeah. I'm just glad when this case is closed and we get to go home. I'm tired of dealing with Thompson's mess!" _Niels had been in charge of the investigation of this serial killer, and the case had gotten to him a long time ago. Even though Thompson was only charged for the murder of 6 girls, there still was uncertainty about the whole case. More girls had gone missing those years, and never found.

It frustrated him that so many families still had to live with the uncertainty of their daughters' fate.

Niels noticed the girl next to Charlie. Who could that be_?_

This girl was about 180 cm tall, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore brown velvet trousers, worn out leather boots, a white lab shirt and a black coat. She seemed anticipating. Niels cleared his throat, an attempt to cover up the silence that had fell between them and said. _"And who might you be?_, looking Mia in the eye.

"_Erhm… Hi" _Mia said with a low voice not taking Niels outstretched hand. _"I'm Mia, and I'm Charlie's, I mean.. uhm.. Dr. Milford's student."_

"_Yes"_ Interrupted Dr. Milford with a big smile, saving her of the embarrassment he knew she was feeling. _"I didn't have time to warn you about her. The call seemed quite urgent so we just hurried to get here. Mia is just about to finish her PhD about the location of clandestine graves. I hoped she could be allowed to take a look at the graves as a part of her active fieldwork experience?_

"_I suppose so…__exactly how?"_ The senior police officer said sceptically, his eyes flickering to Mia.

"_I would like to apply some archaeologically methods to the forensic work.__" _Mia said, suddenly feeling confident. _"Basically I would like to treat this crime scene as an archaeologically find site. At first photos are taken of the crime scene, a measure grid is established around the find, and then it is drawn into a co-ordinate system on graph paper. This way, it is possible to record were the bones is placed in relation to each other, and that info is crucial. Also any changes in soil colour and texture are drawn, photographed and described. This info can help to establish whether the graves have been disturbed by recent activities. As to the dig itself, the soil is being removed about 3 centimetres at a time. Each time new photos are being taken, the find is drawn on the graphic paper and soil colour and texture are described. The bones are being taken up and giving numbers as the digging proceeds. By following this procedure it becomes possible to reconstruct the circumstances about the crime scene very precisely back in the lab. And that is a great benefit when trying to establish an idea of what had happened here."_

Mia said this very matter-of-factly, as she had described it many times before. She patiently waited for the officer to think this through. Inside she was very excited. This could be a big chance for her, if she was allowed to apply her ideas. Then she had some further research material for her PhD…

She was awoken from her thoughts as the senior officer spoke.

"_I guess it would be okay for __you to do so Mia. But it is a confidential police case, so there is a certain amount of professional secrecy involved. I can't allow essential information about the case being used in that project until the case is closed. Also the forensic team must be involved to do the soil samples and other test needed." _The officer had looked a bit sceptic, but now he was smiling at them. "_But I must admit, I'm fascinated about your idea. In fact, I would like to read your final PhD when your are done?_

"_Of course, uhm…sure you can do that. I'll have it send for you then?" _Mia said a bit flustered. The senior officer smiled at them both, before he attended to other duties. She really had not thought she would be allowed. After all it was an important case, when a death sentenced man came up with new info about victims. A correct identification of those people would help the families to get closure. And she was allowed to help. She immediately felt insecure about her own capabilities. She always did that, when people had expectations.

Dr. Milford awoke her from her thoughts, as he said _"Are you ready to go now?"_

____________

Mia and Dr. Milford went down the animal track. As they reached the area Mia noticed at least 3 distinct pits, and they had all been disturbed recently. _"Probably by the officer who found them"_ Mia thought. _"But it could also be animals – it is worth a check."_

She unpacked her gear and started taking photos of the scene. Dr. Milford was pulling out a tape measure, some string and two folding rules. Mia put the camera away and helped Dr. Milford set up the measure grid. This really was an archaeologically method, but it was quite handy in this case also. By measuring all the bones in on a system of co-ordinates, they knew exactly where the different bones have been placed in relation to each other. That info might be helpful later, when reconstructing the crime scene back in the lab. This was the stuff Mia found most exciting about this job; the way it was possible to use archaeologically field methods and crime scene investigation at the same time.

"_I'm fetching some forensic help to get samples from the soil before we start the dig_", Mia said. All the answer she got was Dr. Milford just nodding absentminded; his brain was busy thinking about possible scenarios. Mia smiled a bit – she really didn't know anyone else so hung up in his work as the professor. She was aware of the huge age difference, but it didn't seem to matter. It was odd at first, finding herself spending so much time with an elderly man that could bee her dad, but they had just "clicked" in a way.

A forensic team quickly got the required soil samples, and the two friends went on with the digging using small spoons and carefully brushing the soil from the bones. As they dug their way down, they regularly took photos, drawing in the bones position and taking notes about the soil colour and texture.

As the hours passed, it was getting darker and big lamps were eventually put up. To Mia it felt like working in a bubble. All around them it was pitch black, but at the crime site there was light. It seemed like time itself had come to a halt.


	4. A long afternoon

**A/N: **This story takes place between "Sex, birth, death" and "No way out". Warning: potential spoilers for season 1 and 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds – I do own my own characters.

- Thanks to a striking mind for beta reading this story.

- Please review: what did you like/dislike?? Any suggestions for future chapters?

**Chapter 3: ****A long afternoon.**

Time: Wednesday the 12th of January 2005. 

Location: University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Back on the lab the next day, Mia and Dr. Milford was busy analysing the excavated bones from the day before.

Ned Thompson was right about one thing – this was three girls and they were all about 15-20 years old as his previous victims had been. But their identity was still a mystery. Luckily the teeth were well preserved from all three victims. They should able to compare bite marks from the victims with the dental cards from the three missing girls with some help from a forensic odontologist. But still a DNA analysis was a good idea.

"_Okay. Let's send some samples from each of the victims to a DNA analysis to get a precise identification. Can you se to that __Mia?" _ Dr. Milford said with a hand on the doorknob. Mia looked up from the microscope, rubbing her one score eye. _"Sure thing, professor."_

"_Perfect, then I'll have to go. I have classes to attend to."_ With that he quickly grabbed this shoulder bag and half run out of the lab.

Mia made the telephone call and made sure the bones was thoroughly wrapped before a special delivery picked it up. Also she phoned the forensic odontologist Jacob Williams and made an appointment for later that day.

Then she went back to work. The skeletons each lay in anatomically order on three tables. The damage on the skulls was consistent with the other known victims as were the marks around the necks. Besides a few bite marks from foxes there was little else to say. This could be the three missing girls, as Ned Thompson claimed them to be.

Deciding she needed a break, she grabbed some coffee and sat down at her desk. She would start a report on the research so far on the three victims. This was to be given to the senior police officer when the investigation on the bodies was complete. And hopefully she would be able to include her observations on this case in her PhD.

Around noon there were a knock on the door frame followed by a _"Hi there! I believe you have called for me once more? You just couldn't do without me for a whole day huh?" _ Mia looked up from her computer and saw Jacob standing there. Se laughed a little as he was saying that. _"Yeah, something like that probably."_ She said as she moved towards the tables, gesturing him to follow.

As usual he was wearing blue jeans, sneakers and the obligatory white lab shirt. Its font pockets were stuffed with pencils and ball pens. He saw eagerly at Mia with his brown eyes while he tried to blow some of his short black hair away from his face.

"_So, I take it that Dr. Milford already has filled you in on the case at hand?" _ Mia asked. Jacob nodded, taking dental cards and gear out from his bag. _"Okay, then let's get this done". _Mia stated keen to investigate this further. Jacob looked at her with a mischievously side glance. _"You know, if I help you out, you owe me one right? _Mia shook her head, laughing to herself. She knew where this was going. "…_so technically you have to go out with me, you see?", _Jacob finished. Mia has missed the major part of his reasoning lost in her thoughts about him and the case. Jacob was one of Mia's closet friends. He was a doctor in forensic odontology and worked with the police force in Knoxville. He was a person Mia held in very high regard, but couldn't imagine to date him. He was her good friend, the one she could always count on. That would be too weird. Also he was 32, way to old for her. A silent voice in her head kept telling her what she already knew though. That she went on spotting things that were wrong with men who liked her, so she wouldn't have to deal with it. After all, she was planning to return to Denmark after her finals, so it would be stupid to get involved in anything.

So she did like always, with a little laugh to ease the tension _"Argh, don't be so technical, it doesn't suit you. I would always like to watch a movie with you, you know that. But forget about the dating thing. Anyway, you would be bored with me in the long run, listing to all my babbling about Stone Age, books and stuff." _ Mia tried acting easy about this, but couldn't fail to notice the hurt look in Jacobs's eyes. It went away as quickly as it came and left Mia with a frustrated feeling. She hated it… knowing she was responsible.

"_I'll buy you coffee and cake as soon as we're done here!" _Mia stated, trying once again to ease things up between them. She couldn't stand silent awkwardness.

"_Okay, that's a date then!" _ Jacob said cheeky, bowing his head avoiding Mia's blow.

"_This is go__ing to be a long afternoon"_, Mia thought.


	5. The brilliant mind

**A/N: **This story takes place between "Sex, birth, death" and "No way out" - potential spoilers for season 1 and 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds – I do own my own characters.

A huge thanks to Kavi Leighanna for beta reading this story. :-D

Please review: what did you like/dislike?? Any suggestions for future chapters?

**Chapter four: The brilliant mind**

"_Cogito ergo sum" _I think, therefore I am. - René Descartes.

_______

The mind is capable in storing many memories, also some we would rather prefer not to remember anymore.

Everybody fights with their own demons, problems or past. Most people fight in silence. Every day trying to push the thoughts that haunt one's mind away.

Spencer Reid was one of those. Nobody saw his pain. Nobody knew about the precise details of his past, and he preferred it that way. The last thing he needed was the look he knew they would give him if they knew.

He didn't want to see the disbelief in their eyes. They should not think of him as a freak. As everybody else from high school and college had done.

He liked his job, he felt accepted. And he didn't want to jeopardize that.

Dr Spencer Reid knew his demons. He knew them very well. His mind was full of thoughts of his past, his mother, her sickness and himself. Schizophrenia could be genetically passed on, as he had once told Garcia. Secretly Reid feared it could happen to him. He was ashamed of these thoughts, about how desperately he hoped to not end up like his mother. Diana Reid had been a college professor, a clever and smart woman. But then she had changed. She had her good and her bad periods. Lately the latter was more frequent unfortunately. And he was guilty for not being there for her in those times, so he wrote her letters.

The balance between being a genius and a psychopath was as fine as a hair. And that scared him. Like the case about Nathan Harris had done. He could have ended up like Nathan, when he was at that age. It should have been him. When it came down to it there really was little difference between him and the many Unsubs he put away, Reid thought.

It was only a question about time, when it would happen. The mind was fragile and was so easily broken.

Who knew when it could happen anyway? When he finally had gotten enough of all the stuff they witnessed every day and just… well…clicked? Or when he got the case that might change him forever? That was one of his greatest fears.

Yes, he knew how it was to be afraid of one's own mind. Hell, he was still afraid of the dark!

He really didn't want to think about it that much. And mostly Reid did manage to put those thoughts away, to store them in the back of his mind. And then think of random facts to cover it up. He often used his memory this way – to keep his mind preoccupied. Or blabber about random facts he knew about. That was not only in the presence of women that happened. (But, hey! Those situations werealso pretty scary!)

Sometimes he wondered if he had overslept the day they handed out the ability to act normally in social situations.

He had discovered early on that when he fell silent for a long while, the others on his team got worried. He couldn't stand the worried looks JJ or Emily could give him. Or the way Hoch was thoroughly studying him sometimes.

They were all used to the energetic, blabbering, genius Reid. So he gave them that, he could be an okay actor. But inside he sometimes didn't feel so happy or careless as he seemed to be acting.

Sometimes his facade didn't work. His walls would fall.

And then it all came back to him. All the feelings and thoughts he would rather not deal with. All the stuff he had locked away in the back of his mind, trying to forget or repress. And the sensible part of him knew he had to deal with it, to talk about it. He really couldn't imagine himself discussing it out in the open with his colleagues. He was too used not to talk about his feelings. It was just the way it was.

But of course Gideon knew. He had almost taken the place as Reid's surrogate father. And he had helped him out more than once. He would be there for him. He was sure of that. He was his constant.

And Reid could always count on him.


	6. A Bad One

**A/N: **

This story takes place in season two between the episodes "Sex, birth, death" and "No way out". Warning: potential spoilers for season 1 and 2. Also minor spoilers for future seasons; I like to hint a bit.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds – I do own my own characters.

Please review: what did you like/dislike?? This is my first take on fanfiction, so I would really like some comments :-) Thanks to Kevi Leighanna for betaing this chapter!

- And thanks to all of you who have favored my story/joined the atlerts/reviewed. I´m really excited that you like this story. Thanks for reading!

On with the story then!!

**Chapter five: A bad one.**

Time: Tuesday the 18th of January 2005. 

Location: Quantico, Virginia: BAU headquarters. 

"Morning there hot shot! How was your weekend? Do anything exciting, pick up any girls?" Morgan cheerfully greeted Dr. Reid, as the young genius entered the BAU bullpen. Reid had hoped to enter unnoticed and just go straight to his desk without too much attention especially from Morgan. But he failed. Terribly.

Sighing he turned around 180 degrees, heading for the small kitchen to grab himself some much needed coffee instead. He had enjoyed his long weekend. It was nice that he had gotten an extra day off after the last case with Nathan Harris. He had a difficult time erasing Nathan's suicide attempt from his head. Reid kept recalling how he had tried to stop the bleeding. How he had yelled at Garcia. He had scared her that day. He had scared himself.

Pouring himself some coffee, he noticed Morgan standing in the doorway. "Hey, Reid…are you okay man?"

Stirring a considerable amount of sugar in his coffee, he looked up at Morgan. Reid leaned against the kitchen table, nodding.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't get a lot of sleep the last couple of days_._"Sipping the hot, sweet liquid he felt his blood sugar rise instantly.

"Not a lot of sleep? Did you finally hook up with a sweet little girl?"Morgan said jokingly, smiling.

Reid gave a wry smile, looking down as he tucked some hair behind his ear. He knew Morgan's humour, and at the moment he appreciated it. It eased the tension he was feeling. And right now it helped him to play the happy genius.

"Actually I was reading some books of Jean Paul Sartre and René Descartes" Reid's voice rose with excitement as he jumped into a longer explanation. "They are really famous philosophers from exciting periods in time. And people who basically developed philosophy as we know it tod…"

"Reid" Morgan said, interrupting before the small creek of talk turned into a big river. "You really don't need to read books about thinking. You already think way too much man!"

"I'm just wondering weather or not I should take a Bachelor of Philosophy??" Reid kept on thinking aloud. "It could be something interesting to do on the weekends. Honestly I could use an extra project to do." _If nothing else, it might be a way to occupy myself_, he thought.

"No kid, you need to get out in the weekends" Morgan stated, laughing a bit of the young man, but he couldn´t help but be impressed by him. Before Reid had a chance to get back on how interesting the subject could be, they were interrupted by JJ standing in the doorway. She seemed dark and tense.

"Sorry guys. We got a bad one…briefing in the Round Table Room in five minutes."

___________

As everyone settled themselves around the table, JJ started handing out case files while speaking.

"Since January five women in the age of 15-20 years has been found dead in the nearby forests of Knoxville, Tennessee." JJ picked up the remote and started flicking through several pictures as she spoke. "The victims are Mary Williams, 19; Susan Jackson, 16; Eva Warren, 20; Jenny Hanson, 15 and Georgia Simmons, 19. They all seem to have identical strangulation marks around their necks, identical burn marks on their arms and legs and an identical blunt blow to their heads. The latest victim, Georgia Simmons was found less than two hours ago. The senior officer, Niels Donaldson, has officially requested the help from the BAU. " JJ spoke the last sentence as she looked directly at Hotch, her eyes filled with empathy for the five women.

Morgan scratched the back of his head as he spoke. "It seems like a spree killer."

Reid spoke up, as he was done flickering through the case file "Yeah. And he is busy. Today two women were killed! And the other three murders were committed with just a few days apart. This seems very spontaneous; he doesn't target a very specific victim type – these girls have nothing in common regarding looks. But there is the thing about their age, which could be a clue. Another strange thing is the timeline - he doesn't keep the victims long. If he keeps on doing this, there is no way to determinate excactly when he would kill again. He seems very unpredictible, that makes him dangerous."

Emily joined in the conversation as she said "It seems the unsub wants to make some sort of statement. These kills are a way to gain attention. The question is what does he have to say?"

"Okay. We are going to Knoxville." Hotch stated. "JJ, call Niels Donaldson, and tell him we are on our way. Wheels up in half an hour!"

The team quickly went for their ready bags and headed out to the awaiting cars. Relieved, JJ went to her office, calling Niels. Every case the team went on meant that at least three other cases had to be turned down. This case had been in the rejected–pile, until the new body had been found that day. It hurt her that there had to be another murder, before the BAU would step in. But there had been worse cases on her desk in the last couple of weeks. In a way she hated being the one deciding weather a case was suitable for the BAU to take. Who was she to judge the fate of others? There shouldn't be such a need to decide which case was the crueller. In the perfect world, that was.

____________

He kept his cell in a firm grasp, staring at it distantly. This was going to be a long flight. At least 6 hours. And who knew how long they were going to be away this time. He wasn't happy about what he had to say to her now. How he had to go away for work. He knew she didn´t want to know where

and why he was leaving. Sometimes he wished she would show just a little interest in his job. After all, it was the reason why he spent so much time away from home. But again, that was the very reason she acted so distant. It was his job that had taken him away from her and their son so many times. It was the reason why he had missed out on so many important things. He knew what he had to do... again.

Sighing he pressed the speed dial, waiting for her to pick up. "Hello honey. Listen, I have been called on a case…"

Morgan noticed how Hotch just sat there for a while before finally calling his wife. Morgan knew things weren't going well between Hotch and his wife. It was almost impossible not to notice. After all, they were profilers although they tried not to analyze each other too much.

_We all __have our things to deal with, I suppose,_ Morgan thought as he turned his focus back to the case at hand. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Reid heading for the small kitchenette, fetching himself some more coffee. He still seemed sleep deprived from the weekend.

Morgan smiled to himself. Reid was the only person he knew that would set his mind on getting another university title, just because he needed something to do in his spare time.

In the plane kitchenette, Reid was pouring some coffee. He wasn't keeping score, but he knew he was well on his way towards a new record. He had already consumed a substantial amount of coffee, and it was only around 11:00 in the morning.

He noticed JJ sitting at a table stuffed with case files. He knew it was hard on her, that the team couldn't take every case they were offered.

He was in the lucky position, never really knowing which cases they turned down. JJ on the other hand… well she had to deal with both the actual cases they went on and the many potential cases that were ever present at her desk back home.

Reid sat down next to Gideon. Emily sat opposite to them, starring out of the plane window.

"You know, there is something that doesn't add up here," she said half to herself, half to Gideon and Reid.

Gideon and Reid looked at her with an inquiring glance. Emily hurried on with an explanation for her sudden outburst.

"The murders seem spontaneous and non-planned. But still he uses the exact same methods, alike in the smallest detail. Why bother about that, if the attacks are just an act of aggression and spontaneous violence? I think he's sending a specific message. But what? And why is it that important to him? We need to find the stressor. What circumstances caused the unsub to this go to extreme? The first body was found four days ago. What happened in the unsub's life in the days before that? It must have been something major for him to act out like this."

"That´s correct. But let's start by doing a preliminary profile. It will give us some background to determine the stressor from." As Gideon said that, the team gathered.

The hunt had begun.


	7. Insight

**A/N: **

This chapter is unbetaed, so all errors are mine!

**Chapter six: Insight**

A smile was formed on a face partly hidden in shadow. The light from a single bulb illuminated the centre of a simple table leaving the rest of the room in darkness.

Pale hands cautionally picked up a piece of steel wire, caressing it gently. Slim fingers stroke the cool metal. One finger pressed against the end of the wire, feeling the wire gradually pierce through. A small drop of blood was formed, so red in contrast to the dark room and it´s brown coulors. Eyes were drawn to the blood. A couple of red, slim lips parted allowing the bloody finger to enter. A tounge carefully licked the finger. Slowly it was pulled out of the warmth of the mouth. It felt cold against the air.

Gently putting the steel wire down, the hands reached for the hammer. The wooden handle felt smooth between the fingers, the metal cold. But it could be warm. Blood made it feel oh so warm. Carefully fingers reached for the wet towel, gently removing the still sticky blood. Important tools should be kept clean for next use. These were the means to do things right, the tools to give honor to the rightious.

A brown, worn out doctor's bag was pulled from the darkest corner of the table, fingers carefully opend it. The lips parted in a small smile as the bag opend with a characteristic "klick".

Hands gently placed the objects in the bag, stroking each of them affectionately. Hands then closed the bag.

A light laughter broke the scilence. It grew in strenght as the dark person picked up the bag and went for the door.

The room was left alone in the darkness as it´s sole occupant switced off the light and went out in the night.

Now. This was the time to set things straight.


	8. Investigation part 1

**A/N:** This chapter was really long, so I devided it into two parts. The second part will be named Chapter eight: Investigation part 2.

Thanks forall the reviews, thanks a million to all of you who have added the story to your favorites/subscriptions and thanks to lacym3 who wrote me that wonderful mail!

Thanks for reading!

**Chapter ****seven: Investigation part 1.**

Time: Late afternoon. Tuesday, January 18th, 2005.

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee.

Once at the police station everybody quickly divided into teams. Morgan and Hotch went to inspect the five crime scenes. Emily and Reid concentrated their efforts on finishing the prelimiary profile while JJ made the necessary phone calls to prepare a press conference. The media was having a field day, annoucing an unstoppable killing spree in Knoxville. A press conference to clear things up was evidently much needed.

Emily and Reid soon found themselves confined into a somewhat small room. The brown walls were plastered with crimescene fotos. The single table was covered with casefiles and other relevant case material. From one wall hang a whiteboard and a large map picturing the town and its surrounding areas. Emily placed herself on a brownish, worn chair grabbing for the casefiles. Her plan was to thoroughly tjeck the casefiles to find any missing connection between the victims.

Reid went straight to the map, planning to estlablish a geografical profile of the murders. He was good at this, spotting seemingly nonexistent connections. As he stood there in front of the map, it was as if he was completley alone. Nothing existed in those moments except Reid and his task. Almost instantly his mind started processing different scenarios. Reid was sure he´d never be able to explain how it felt. How he could, just by looking at map with crime locations, gradually find a distinct pattern or a connection between them. He saw all the small parts but at the same time saw how the parts could fit together in a pattern. Without him even thinking about it, his pen flew across the map, trying to keep up with his racing mind.

The door was abruptly opend, interrupting Reid and Emily in their work. Gedion and the senior officer Niels Donaldson entered with strange facial expressions. Gedion was the first to speak.

"We found something. There was a case in the 1980´s resembling this one. A unsub named Ned Thompson was sentenced to death for killing six women here in Knoxville. The methology and the age group fit the _victimology for the newest murders."_

_"So we have a copycat?" Reid was the next to speak._

_"That is the theory. But the strange part is the short time span between the kills. Ned Thompson killed with years in between. Not like this." detective Donaldson clarified. _

_"So someone or something has set this copycat off, and evidently did a good job since it has sent the unsub into this killing spree." Emily noticed dryly and added "I haven´t found any connection between the murders. So it seems plausible with a copycat so far." _

_"For the moment, I haven´t found anything either. One common feature between all the murders though, is the dumpsites in the nearby woods." Reid added. _

_"But we are still lacking a stressor", Emily said._

_"There is this one, odd thing." Niels said quietly. "Eight days ago Ned Thompson confessed some more murders, and a team went to investigate. Additionally three victims were unearthed and transported to Knoxville University for further investigation. So far they seem to be the work of Ned Thompson."_

_Emily sighed. "And this was covered in the media?"_

_"Well, yes. This case has been public from day one. About five days ago we debriefed the public about the case. They deserve to know. I´m afraid there might be more victims hidden in the nearby forests." It was obvious Niels felt he had done his best to grasp this situation, Emily thought. But somehow it seemed like the Unsub was triggered by the news about the newfound victims and started killing because of it. But how and why this could be so important for him was a riddle to Emily. This seemed to be the stressor, all right. _

_Gideon interrupted her trail of thoughts as he started giving instructions for the further investigation. "Now we´ll need to talk to Ned Thompson and the team who unearthed the last three victims. That team consisted of a group of forensics assisted by Dr. Charles Milford from Knoxville University. He is a professor in _Forensic Anthropology and has assisted the Knoxville Police Department with different cases before."

Reid had been listing quietly while Gidion spoke. But at the mention of Dr Milford Ried´s face suddenly lit up. "Actually he´s kind of famous, he has written several important works on forensics. Especially this one book is interesting. It´s..."

"I think you and Reid should go talk to him, Emily" Gedion interrupted with a small smile. Emily smirked at Reid as the two of them gathered their things, and went off.


	9. Investigation part 2

**A/N:** Thanks forall the reviews and thanks a million to all of you who have added the story to your favorites/subscriptions.

Thanks for reading; you are all making me so happy!

**Chapter ****eight: Investigation part 2.**

Time: Late afternoon, Tuesday the 18th of January 2005.

Location: Knoxville University, Tennessee.

Reid pulled up the car next to the Forensic Antropology Center at Knoxville University. It had taken them some time to get there. Reid kept blaming the size of the whole complex and the fact it was very difficult navigating around there. Reid´s driving style that could only be described as "Very careful" naturally had nothing to do with it.

Emily and Reid hurried towards the building Gidion had described, although according to Niels, they had no reason to hurry. Dr. Milford was usually still at work a coulpe of hours after he was supposed to be done for the day. The way Niels had described him, Dr. Milford seemed to be a fantastic assert to the police in Knoxville. Reid was looking forward to meet him in person, and he silently cursed that all his books written by Dr. Milford was back home. So that meant no autographs. At least no autographs on his original books.

The hallway leading up to Dr. Milford´s office had plain white walls with different bulletin boards announcing social gatherings, book sales and seminars. As Reid and Emily made their way down the hallway they received several odd glances from students, wondering who those people could be.

That made Emily smile "It seems like we look too official again, huh?"

Reid felt unsecure as many women looked after him. "Yeah, seems that way". Emily laughed at this. "Come on Reid, they won´t bite."

"How would you know? Apparently some actually like that…" At this Reid trailed off, as if he´d just realized what he´d said out loud.

Emily laughed again, and luckily for Reid they had arrived at Dr. Milford's office. With a shrug and a small smile, Reid knocked on the door. There was no answer, though. Emily looked one moment at Reid, then she knocked again, this time harder.

Mia had walked in her own little world, as she had made her way towards Dr. Milford´s office. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed two persons she hadn't come across before, standing outside the Doc´s office. A medium tall woman was black haired, and seemed to be amused at something the brown, curly haired man had just said. He on the other hand, seemed slightly flustered.

The woman was dressed in black trousers, a white shirt and a long black wool coat. It seemed to Mia, that the woman looked official in some way or another. The man was dressed more casually in grey woolen pants, a brown dress shirt, a woolen west and a brown jacket. He reminded Mia of some of her professors. As he stood there, hands in his pockets, he seemed a bit uncomfortable.

As the woman raised her hand to knock on the door again, Mia stepped closer.

"Hello. I´m Mia Holst, Dr Milford's research assistant. Can I help you with anything?"

Emily and Reid turned around, facing the newcomer. The girl had short blonde messy hair. She was dressed in brown velvet trousers with a shiny spot on each knee, a black shirt and a white lab coat stuffed with pencils, a small flashlight, a scalpel and other things Reid had a hard time to identify. With a small smile, he realized she had a pencil tucked behind her right ear.

Emily was quick to introduce herself and Reid. "Hello, Miss. Holst. I´m FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss and this is FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid." With these words, Emily shook Mia´s hand while the brown haired man, now identified as Dr. Spencer Reid did a small funny wave at her general direction. To answer the now puzzled look spread across Mia´s face, Emily clarified their errand.

"We are here to talk to Dr. Milford about his assistance in a police case a week ago. Can we please see him?"

"Erm, sure…He is at a meeting right now, but I can go get him for you?" Mia said, feeling slightly awkward by the situation.

"Thanks, we´ll appreciate that, Miss Holst." Emily said with a small nod, smiling at Mia.

"You can wait inside his office, if you want to?" Mia said, opening Dr. Milford´s office door. "I´ll be back with him in a few minutes. Please have a seat while you wait."

"Thank you" Emily said as her and Reid went inside the office. As for Reid he was happy to escape the glances and the whispers from the students in the hallway. Somehow that reminded him of his own university years.

Dr. Milford's office was much like Reid had imagined it would be. It was a small, white walled room stuffed with far too many objects. The room was furnished like a small living room. An antique desk was placed almost in the middle of the room. Two comfortable chairs stood in front of the desk, a red plush chair and a brown leather chair. Both seemed like remnants of old, happier times. Behind the desk was an even older looking brown leather chair. The desk itself was stuffed with files, books and single sheets of paper in uncountable numbers neatly piled. Shelves were covering every available piece of wall. Most of these shelves were occupied by books but single shelves were dedicated to bones in various sizes and from various species. It was a peculiar collection Dr. Milford owned, Reid thought.

Several lamps made sure that the room was embedded with a soft, golden light. All in all this was a pleasant room, Reid thought. Actually much like his own living room.

After some moments, Reid and Emily heard voices from the hallway. A distracted and almost high pitched male voice and a calming, but slightly resignedly female voice reached their ears. Clearly their owners were just outside the office.

"I didn't keep them waiting too long, did I? You did show them into the office, right?" the male voice said.

"For the last time, professor. They just got here like 10 minutes ago. And yes, I did ask them to wait in your office", Mia said with a sigh as the two entered the room.

Dr Milford was a man in his late 40´s and slightly lower than Mia. His long hair was completely white and a bold spot was beginning to emerge at the top of his head. His eyes were clear blue, sparkling with intelligence and humor. He wore a white dress shirt and a dark blue pinstriped suit. His shoes were polished so the black leather shined bright in the dim lamp light.

"A pleasure to meet you, agents. I´m Doctor Charles Milford, how can I help you?" Dr. Milford said as he and Emily shook hands. As usual Reid did his little wave.

"Hello. I´m agent Emily Prentiss and this is agent Dr. Spencer Reid. We are from the BAU and we would like to talk to you about your latest case, assisting Knoxville Police Department."

"Of course, ask away."

"You assisted in unearthing three female bodies seven days ago?"

"Yes. They were found with help from Ned Thompson, the infamous serial killer. According to him, those girls were some he originally had planned to keep for himself. But, for some reason, he told the police were to find them. Probably as an attempt to save his own skin from a death penalty.

We are very close to a final identification. We are expecting the results from the dental investigations any time now. But why has this case attracted the interest from the BAU?"

Emily said "We may have a copycat. Around the same time this was made public, a series of murders occurred. As far as we can tell, it is the same methodology being used. We would like you to take a look at those new victims. Perhaps you can tell us what we are looking at?"

"Of course." Dr. Milford said with a small laughter. "So I got to get back to the beginning after all."

Emily and Reid frowned at this. Dr. Milford continued, "They didn't tell you? I assisted in the investigation of the original murders by Ned Thompson back in the 80´s."

"No, we haven´t been informed about that." Emily said.

"Anyway, I remember those murders clearly. I had just finished my MSc in Forensic Anthropology and my professor had recommeded me to the senior police officer. Somehow I ended up on the team investigating those murders. Much like Mia here, acually. She assisted the team when we found those three victims last week." Dr. Milford said, smiling at Mia.

"Dr. Milford, can we see the three victims?" Emily said.

"Sure, they are right down in the lab. Mia will show you down there, if that´s okay? I´m afraid I´ll have to head back to my meeting. A boring governing body meeting but I have to attend."

"Of course, Dr. Milford. Thanks for your time, we´ll come back tomorrow" Emily said.

"I´m looking forward to that, then. Bye Agent Prentiss, Dr. Reid." Dr. Milford nodded at them both, as he hurried out of the office.

The moment Dr. Milford was gone, Mia suddenly felt very exposed being alone with the two agents. In an attempt to cover up the awkward silence Mia cleared her throat and said "Well, this way agents. The lab is just down the next building."

As they made their way to the lab, Emily grasped the oppotunity to ask Mia some questions. "So Miss Holst, you are assisting Dr. Milford?"

"Yes, I´m his PhD student. But please call me Mia. The whole `miss´ thing is a bit wierd to me."

For the first time, Dr. Reid spoke up. "What sort of work do you do for Dr. Milford?"

"All sorts of things. Currently I´m finishing my PhD project. That´s why I was with him when the forensic team found those graves. I kind of hoped I could use the result from those investigations in my assigment." Mia said.

"Nice. When are you going to graduate?" Reid asked.

"In just under three months... I´m beginning to get the jitters big time." Mia said with a small grin, somehow beginning to feel more comfortable in the presence of the two agents.

"What´s your thesis topic?" Reid asked interrested.

"Oh, erm... It´s a mix of forensic antropology and field archaeology. I´m an archaeologist but I always found the forensic antropology interessing also. So I ended up investigating the polibilities of a mix of the two methologies."

As Mia spoke the last sentence the small group had reached their goal. With a key card Mia buzzed them into a large lab. "Here we are agents; the forensic anthropology lab." Mia gestured towards three steel tables, where the skeletons lay in anatomically order.

Emily and Reid took a thorough look at each of them. Then Reid spoke up. "Have you noticed the angles of these head blows? These victims took a blow to the back of their heads. So the unsub diden´t face them, when he killed them."

"That could be a clue. He isn´t strong enough to face his victims. He feels inferior to them, so he can´t look them in the eye when he kills them?"

"That sounds plausible, Emily" Reid said. "I think we´ll need to tjek the casefiles from the murders in the 80´s just to compare with these. And the new ones for that matter."

"Okay Reid. Let´s get back to the station now then."

"Thanks for your time, Mia. We´ll be back tomorrow. Hopefully we have new information then. Goodbye"

"Goodbye Agent Prentiss, Dr. Reid"

As Reid and Prentiss walked out of the lab, Reid did a little wave at Mia. She waved back.

Mia looked at the three skeletons at the tables and wondered what might happen next. She felt like she was in a movie or something, being present in the middle of an investigation like this. She coulden´t help feeling a bit excited.


	10. An evening meal

**A/N:** Thanks forall the reviews and thanks a million to all of you who have added the story to your favorites/subscriptions.

Thanks for reading; you are all making me so happy!

**Chapter 9: An evening meal **

A lonely gray pigeon nibbled with caution at some pizza crust dropped in the middle of a dark alley. The place was littered with stuffed trash cans almost sighing under the heavy load of garbage. A single street lamp offered poor yellow light that only reached a few feet into the darkness.

An empty box that once had included a refrigerator now lay unoccupied in the street. The grey pigeon had earlier that day, from its place on the fire escape stairs, watched a ragged homeless guy leave his makeshift home. With him gone, the bird was left in peace to eat whatever leftovers it could find.

On the alley walls hang posters that had once been colorful. Now they were faded, and the colors had gradually mixed as it had been raining a lot lately. But now it was dry, though the air was still damp with the recent rain. In the air hang a stench of garbage mixed with a distinct smell of perfume and liquor, originating from the small bar on the corner of the alley. Outside the bar hang a colorful neon sign in green and red, flashing every few seconds.

Every now and then the pigeon nervously held its head up, as it was trying to listen, trying to make sense of the muffled noises from the bar and the adjoining streets. Suddenly the pigeon caught sight on a lonely figure, heading towards the bird and its food. The bird grasped a little piece of bread in its beak and hovered lazily into the air. It landed on its favorite location, the fire escape stairs a couple of meters above ground.

The figure came closer. It was a strange shape, the bird found.

Lilly Adams hurried down the alley. Away from the bar. Away from the strange man with the thin smile on his lips.

His eyes had been following her every move since he came into the bar that night. He had pierced her eyes with his icy blue ones. She had never seen such eyes before. Lilly shivered as she pulled her long black coat closer around her. She just wanted to go home as quickly as possible.

Suddenly Lilly heard a crisp, dry voice talk to her from somewhere behind her. "How rude of you, just to leave like that, my young lady. We haven´t even been properly introduced yet!"

It felt like her heart stopped beating in those moments where she spun around. There he was, no more than 4 meters away from her. The man with the icy blue eyes.

She was frozen to the spot, trying to flee but scared and unable to move like a deer in front of the flashing lights of a car.

With a quick move the man had a hammer in his hand. And with another quick move, he had his arms around Lilly Adams. He could fell her warm skin against his own. He could fell her angst. He was almost aroused as he crushed her skull with his hammer. The blood felt so warm against his fingers. He felt her life slowly fade away, as he took out the steel wire and placed it around her neck. She opened her eyes and he locked his gaze with hers. He watched her die with a small smile pursed on his thin red lips. In those moments his world was at peace.

The grey pigeon slowly returned towards the pizza crust on the ground once all was quiet. The bird found that something had changed in its alley; a big figure had come to lie partially upon the leftover pizza crust. The bird waited, but the figure was completely still. So the bird carefully made its way closer towards the bread, trying to safe some of the pizza crust. But it was in vain. With a side-glance at the figure, the bird discovered that a couple of empty gray eyes were staring blankly up in the air. Following the direction, the grey pigeon flew into the cold night, looking for another meal.


	11. The porcelain doll

**A/N:** **I own nothing. Thanks for reading, you guys are awesome! **

**Chapter 10: ****The ****porcelain doll.**

Time: Wednesday the 19th of January 2005

Location: Comfort Inn Hotel, Knoxville, around 04.00 A.M. 

In a dark hotel room the scilence was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. A high, consistent noise combined with a vibrating sound. In a couple of moments Hotch was wide awake and answered the phone with a single word.

"Hotchner."

The voice of Niels Donaldson came through the phone, "Sorry to wake you up like this, but we might have another victim, belonging to our copy-cat killer."

Hotch got up from the bed and began dressing himself while talking to Niels, "Where was she found?"

"The body was dumped in an ally, close to a bar. Besides that fact, the MO seems to fit to the smallest detail", Niels answered him.

"Okay, I´ll wake up my team. We´ll be there in half an hour." Hotch answered.

Niels seemed relieved at those words, as he answered, "Thanks, I´ll text you the address. I´ll meet you all there."

Time: Wednesday the 19th of January 2005

Location: The alley behind the bar Fancy This!, Knoxville.

Reid took in the scene around him. The alley was littered with indescribable amounts of garbage. It was long, narrow and poor lighted. It was still pitch-black, as the sun hadn't set yet. The crime scene team had set up some extra lamps, as to better see the scene. The victim seemed bathed in the sharp, artificial light. Her face resembled that of a porcelain doll with her pale, white skin and deep red lips. Her head rested upon her raven black hair which lay spread on the ground around her head almost like a halo. She was dressed for a night in town with her semi-short dress, big necklace and black coat. She seemed fast asleep except for the wide open blue eyes and the big pool of blood that had formed around her head. Her arms were twisted in a weird form, like she had been struggling to the very end. The whole scene seemed dominated with black and white colors, except from the red colors from her lipstick, her red lips and the dark red pool of blood on the ground.

Morgan, Hotch, Emily and Reid had driven directly to the crime scene, while Gideon and JJ had driven to the police station. JJ and Gideon were planning to compare the case files from the old murders by Ned Thompson in the 1980´ties with the case files from the three newly unearthed female individuals. In addition they were going to compare those case files with the new victims from the copy cat. Hopefully they would dig something useful up, Reid thought. Time was beginning to be more and more of the essence with this case. The fact that the killer was now dumping a body near the town center was a serious thing. The UnSub was escalating his violent behavior and was now outside of his former comfort zone, the woods.

"So, what we dealing with here is a clear escalation in behavior from what we have previously seen from this UnSub." Morgan thought aloud. "He is escalating, and there´s no way he is just going to stop by himself." Morgan continued.

"That's right", Reid answered. "He´s most possibly going to continue this killing spree until we stop him. And he´s going to kill again soon, if he´s going to stick to his new pattern."

"So time is of the essence then", Niels said determinedly. "I´ll go talk to some of the bar guests. One of them might have seen our UnSub.", Niels continued.

"I´ll join you.", Emily said.

In the meantime, Morgan was walking by himself around the alley, trying to think like the UnSub. This alley was a strategically good place to ambush somebody. It was narrow, poor lighted and stuffed with obstructions.

"I´m the UnSub. I hide in the shadows of this alley and ambush her as she walks past me." Morgan thought aloud.

"Not to bring you down, Morgan", Reid's voice sounded from behind him "But it looks to me like this girl was hit with a blunt instrument in the front of her head.", Reid clarified, as he saw Morgan´s puzzled look.

Morgan hurried over to Reid and took a closer look himself. "Yeah, you´re right.", he said absentmindedly for a second, and then moved back on track "So this girl wasn't attacked from behind, but was most likely facing her killer. That means this killer doesn't feel inferior to women. He likes to watch them die." Morgan said.

"And that is an important difference as to the original murders by Ned Thompson, where his victims was hit from behind. He didn't face them." Reid said excitedly. "We´ll need to call JJ and Gideon so they can compare our UnSub's murders with Ned Thompson´s murders. Perhaps this is a repeating pattern in the UnSub's MO – which would set him apart from the original murders." Reid said.

"Yeah, I´ll call JJ right away." Morgan said as he found his phone and started dialing JJ´s number.

Time: Wednesday the 19th of January 2005, around noon.

Place: Knoxville police station.

Around noon the whole BAU team was gathered at the policestation to inform eachother on the progress made so far.

As the team and Niels was settled in the small meeting room, Emily spoke up "Niels and I interviewed the bar guests from last night. A couple of girls told us they had spotted what they described as a "creepy old guy" with short, grayish-brown hair, blue eyes and a brown coat. He was carrying some kind of bag too. They both felt scared by the fact he kept on starring at them the whole time they were there. When they decided to leave for the night, they spotted him getting ready to leave too. But at that time, Lilly Adams walked in, and he decided to stay instead."

"We´ll need those girls to talk to a sketch artist", Hotch said.

"Already on it." Emily responded.

"JJ and I went through the case files. Reid´s assumption was correct. This UnSub doesn't kill from behind like Ned Thompson did. That is an important change from the original MO." Gideon explained.

"Actually, it isn't the only one." Reid said. As everyone now looked at him he quickly continued explaining his thoughts "Ned Thompson had a complex and organized method he would always stick to. The original profile of him described him as a highly organized and disciplined killer. I think it's weird that a copycat wouldn't try to copy that aspect of the crimes also. From distance the copycat's killings seems to fit the MO of Ned Thompson's killings to the letter. But there are these small differences I can't help but think is important."

Reid stood up and walked to the board where the case photos was hanging, and continued speaking, "Ned Thompson would dumb his victims in the woods. This UnSub copies the MO, but not entirely. The first five victims were indeed dumped in the woods around Knoxville, but they were dumped close to waste containers. This might give us an idea about how he perceives women."

"Like garbage." Emily said.

"Exactly. And if we adopt this view to the new crime scene, the dumpsite in the alley doesn't seem so out of his pattern after all. It is closer to the town, but the symbolic value of women as trash is amplified." Reid said.

"Good work everybody. We´ll need to talk to Ned Thompson ourselves. I´ve scheduled an interview time with him this afternoon. Gideon and I will go talk to him. JJ, please set up a press conference and give them the profile. Reid, Emily and Morgan; please release the profile to the rest of the police station." Hotch said, as he gave out the assignments for the rest of the day.

"We´ll meet up again around 6.00 PM to discuss our progress again." Hotch quickly added, as the team was getting ready to leave.

As Hotch spotted Reid, he quickly spoke up again, "Oh, and Reid - remember to talk to Dr. Milford about the tests from yesterday. We need to know his professional opinion about Ned Thompson's murders and the UnSub's murders. Also, try to get your hands on his original material from the case."

"Okay" Reid answered, as he walked out the door with the rest of the team.


	12. The notebook

**Chapter 11: ****The notebook.**

Time: Late afternoon, Wednesday the 19th of January 2005.

Location: Knoxville University, Tennessee.

Mia was lost in deep concentration, as she went through the finished report once more. Dr. Milford had left it to her to wrap up the report on the newly unearthed victims. She was beyond nervous by the fact that some of her work was going to be included in an FBI investigation. By the time she had read it from front to back for the 4th time, the nervousness haden´t subsided. She sighed, as she pushed it away from her. This was ridiculus. The report was fine. There were no errors to be found in it.

Mia succeded in calming herself down for a couple of minutes, before she resignedly pulled it towards her and began reading it again. This was truly ridiculus, the rational part of Mia knew. Heck, if the BAU people knew about this, they would have a field day profiling her as having obsessive compulsive disorder. But in this case, she coulden´t help it. Mia had been extremley aware of her responsibility right from the moment Dr. Milford gave her the assignment of writing that report.

A knock on the door caused Mia to emerge from her state of deep concentration. She sighed as she spoke up in a slightly irritated voice, "Come in!"

Reid frowned at the sound of the irritated voice as he opened the door to reveal a very small and very stuffed office. Dr. Milfords PhD student, Mia, sat by a small desk covered with piles of paper and books. She seemed flustered by his sudden appearence in her office. As Reid took a moment to take a quick look around the room, he felt Mia´s gaze on him. It was a room with sloaping walls, as the office was on the top floor just beneath the roof. A very small desk was placed almost in the middle of the room. A window behind the desk allowed some sunshine into the white-walled room. Shelves from floor to ceiling were covering the two straight walls. These shelves seemed to sigh under the weight of several books, piles of paper, ancient flint tools, pottery, animal bones and a couple of skulls.

Mia nervously followed Dr. Reid´s gaze around her office. She suddenly wished she had thought of clearing some of this mess up earlier that day. But Mia haden´t expected to get any guests today, and especially not from the FBI. It had been the plan that Dr. Milford should have told her when to drop of the report to him. "I really need to talk to him about the importance of keeping to scedule", she thought to herself. "Again..." she added in her thoughts.

To Mia´s surprise, Dr. Reid also seemed a bit nervous as he finished his look around the room and settled his gaze upon her.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Reid. What can help you with?", Mia greeted him in a voice she hoped sounded confident.

"Good afternoon Miss Holst. I was looking for Dr. Milford? I was going to pick up the report on the newly unearthed victims?" Reid said in a slightly nervous tone. He was feeling awkward being in Mia´s office like this. At some point, he felt like he was intruding. The fact that Mia seemed so flustered by his precense, amplified that feeling. He managed to get a grip on himself as he continued, "A guy name Jacob mentioned I could find you here..."

It was obvious to see that Dr. Reid was confused by this.

"Oh, yeah. Erm... the thing is that Dr. Milford had some important meetings today, so he asked me to write the report. I have it right here for you, Dr. Reid." Mia said, as she handed him the report with a slightly shaking hand.

Reid took a step forward and accepted the report from Mia.

Suddenly Mia remembered something important. She got up from her chair and awkwardly passed Dr. Reid. She grabbed a folding chair from behind the door and offered it to him.

"Please sit down, Dr. Reid." Mia said, as she got back behind her desk.

"Thanks Miss Holst". Reid answered awkwardly as he sat down, still holding the report in his left hand.

He noticed how Mia nervously played with a pencil in her hand, as she spoke up again, "The report contains all of Dr. Milfords theories and conclusions so far along with my own analysis and investigation of the remains."

"Perfect, I´ll take this down to the station. Thank you very much." Reid answered.

"You´re welcome, Dr. Reid. I hope it can be of some help to you." Mia said in a voice that she again hoped sounded confident.

Mia felt uneasy about the scilence that now fell between them. In her mind she tried to come up with something to say, preferably intelligent. It was obvious to her that Dr. Reid was a highly educated person. That, combined with the fact he was so young, made her even more nervous around him. Mia had always felt uneasy around her teachers in school and her professors at the university. Dr. Milford was an exception to that rule. At some point, she coulden´t help herself picturing Dr. Reid as a professor or something similar. That, combined with the fact that she was beyond nervous that her report wasen´t good enough, made her even more uneasy and nervous around Dr. Reid. All in all she really coulden´t think of any subject of smalltalk that could possibly interrest him.

By now Reid was almost succeeding in containing his akwardness about the situation. But he was wondering why Mia still seemed so flustered by his presence. She kept glancing at him like she was waiting for something to happen.

Then Reid remembered the other reason he was there. "Actually there is another reason I´m here. I was wondering if you would know if Dr. Milford still has his original notes about the discoveries of the first murders by Ned Thompson in the 1980´ties?", Reid asked hopefully.

"Yeah, sure. Erm... I have the notebook here somewhere. Just a moment." Mia said, as she nervously searched her desk for the missing notebook. It wasen´t an easy task, as the desk was literally covered with papers and books. Mia wondered by herself, what Dr. Reid was thinking of her at this moment. Probably that she was a messy klutz, Mia thought. These thoughts diden´t help her to relax, and she became increasingly frustrated with the mess on her table.

In an attempt to ease the tension, Ried spoke up "I-I could help you search for the notebook if you like?"

Mia looked at him surprisingly. To buy herself some time, she tucked a loose strain of hair behind her left ear before she answered him, "Y-yeah that would be great Dr. Reid. It´s a worn brown leather bounded book."

Reid smiled a nervous smile at her as he joined in the search for the notebook.

"I´m really sorry about this mess, Dr. Reid." Mia said in an attempt on explaining the current state of her desk. "I have had a lot of tasks to wrap up lately, and I have found that I have the best overview of my litterature when it´s placed right in front of me."

"Oh that´s alright." Reid answered before he jumped into an explanation "Actually several people discover it´s easier to structure and organize their ideas if their work area is somewhat... untidy." Reid added the last word very carefully, trying not to unwillingly qritique Mia´s way of organizing her office. Actually he thought it was kind of nice.

Mia found herself laughing a little of Dr. Reids last remark. "To be honest I think it´s very kind of you to classify this office as just untidy. I for one would call it awfully messy."

"Some of my old professors had offices excatly like this and I have always liked these kinds of offices with books and curiosities to fill the shelves" Reid answered with a smile. "It feels right somehow for it to be like this." Reid contioned suddenly lost in thought. As he resurfaced he quickly added "I-I don´t know. That probably diden´t make any sense."

"It did." Mia answered quietly, as the search went on. She glanzed quickly at Dr. Reid, but looked down again when she discovered his glance at her.

A scilence fell between them again, but this time it wasen´t so akward. A couple of minutes later, Mia noticed from the corner of her eye Dr. Reid studying a draft of her PhD thesis. As if he had felt her eyes on him he looked up at her and asked "Can I take a look?" he asked with deep interest in his voice.

Mia cleared her throat before she spoke up, "Yes, of course you can Dr. Reid.", Mia answered although she wasen´t pleased with the thought of him flipping throught her draft. "It´s far from finished though" Mia added nervously.

That draft was really a draft in the word´s strictest sense. The margins was stuffed with notes to herself, most of which was in danish and she had highligted several passages in bright colours to remind herself to take a closer look at those later. Not to mention the many silly drawings that adorned some of the pages. The last thing she needed was for Dr. Reid to point out all her mistakes. She felt her ears darken at the thought of Dr. Reid flipping through that draft.

Reid sat down on the folding chair, and begun flipping his way through the pages. As he read his way through the first chapers, his mind was racing to pick up on any information he already knew about this subject.

Mia looked at him with interest and found herself wondering if he really read that fast. He traced the text with his fingers as he flipped through page after page of her thesis.

When Dr. Ried looked up from the draft after a couple of minutes, Mia quickly jumped into an explanation, "I always edit my assignments with highlights, notes and stuff. Just ignore that."

"Well, I understand." Reid answered "It´s a great way to organize one´s thoughts." he added.

To Mia´s surprise, it diden´t seem like Dr. Reid thought she was completly wierd.

"I just have one question about your notes? Where are you from originally – I mean you are not American, right?, Reid bluttered out.

"Yeah, that´s right. I´m an exchange student from Denmark. I have studied abroad in about five years now. I´m planning on travel back home when I´m done with my PhD."

"Really?" Reid asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I´ve studied Forensic Archaeology at Bournemouth University in England. That´s where I´ve got my MSc." Mia explained.

"Yeah, I know that university. At one time I was comtemplating on studying there too." Reid answered.

After a couple of seconds Reid continued speaking, pointing to the draft in his hands. "This sounds very interesting. I like your archaeological angle on the forensic work. His voice was a bid odd, Mia noticed. He cleared this throat and continued "Can I ask why you chose that subject?"

Mia was surprised and unsure if she had understood him correctly. Had he just complimented her of her work?

"Thank you very much, Dr. Reid", Mia said, slightly flustered and nervous. She managed to get a grip at herself before she jumped into an explanation, "I guess I chose that subject because I´ve always had a shared interest in archaeology and forensics. That's why I ended up with Dr. Milford in the first case. He was a guest lecturer in the Forensic Archaeology class I took at Bournemouth University."

Mia was speaking more animated and relaxed now. It seemed she had forgotten about her nervousness from before, Reid noticed. Again he found himself wondering why Mia was acting all nervous and uneasy around him that afternoon. He hoped he haden´t made a wrong impression of himself or did anything else to cause Mia to behave like that. From previous experiences he knew that people usually thought he came off as being geeky and strange. And he was sick and tired of that. For once Reid would like to come off as an interesting person.

Mia, ending her explanation, brought Reid out of these thoughts. He was surprised by himself. He´d normally diden´t space out like that while someone was explaining things to him. He decided to pay proper attention to the rest of Mia´s explanation.

"…so basically; by applying archaeological fieldwork techniques into the forensic investigation regarding burials, it can help to establish the circumstances surrounding the crime. And if pollen analysis and analysis of insect fauna is included, it can also help to establish a timeframe of the decomposition of a body. That's also archaeological methods, but I'm sure you already use the methods in the forensic fieldwork?"

"Yes. These are methods used by our forensic teams. But I still think your research idea is exciting." Reid said smiling, blushing a little.

"Well, thank you very much Dr. Reid", Mia answered a bit confused. Realizing they had forgotten all about the notebook, Mia spoke up. "I don´t think we´ll find the notebook on the desk after all. I´ll take a look at some of the shelves." Mia said as she walked towards the shelves on the left wall of the room. She noticed that Dr. Reid followed her and began inspecting the artefacts on the shelves with great interest.

"Those are flint tools from the Mesolithic" Mia said. As she noticed the questionly look Dr. Reid gave her, she jumped into a further explanation of the term "They are from the middle stone age, or the hunter´s stone age as it´s also called. They are roughly 13.000-10.000 years old."

"Cool." Reid said. "Are those arrows?" he asked, pointing to some small pieces of flint and picked them up.

"Yeah, that´s arrowheads from a hunter´s culture named Maglemose Culture. The flint tools are mostly finds from Denmark." Mia explained. "I brought some of my collection over." she clarified.

"I can´t tell you why. I just felt like it", Mia said as she noticed the questiongly look Dr. Reid gave her.

"I think it´s exciting." Reid said, putting down the arrowheads again.

"Me too, Dr. Reid." Mia said, smiling at him as they continued their search for the notebook.

After a couple of minutes searching in scilence, Dr. Reid spoke up. "Is this the notebook, Miss Holst?"

"Yeah, that´s the one. I used it in the report. It contains all the field observations from the recovering of the victims from the 1980´ties." Mia explained. "Feel free to borrow it as long as you need, Dr. Reid." Mia added.

"Great. Thanks a lot for your help Miss Holst" Reid said as he made his way back to the folding chair.

"Your´e welcome. If you need anything else, don´t hesitate to call or drop by." Mia said as she stood behind her desk again.

A scilence fell between them again, as Dr. Reid picked up Mia´s report on the case so far.

Mia bit her lip, as she was contemplating weather or not to speak up. Reid noticed her nervousness again, and decided to wait and see what would come out of it. After a couple of seconds Mia spoke up. "Dr. Reid, can I please ask you to call me Mia? I believe I already did that yesterday. I don´t know if that´s inappropriate with you being an FBI agent and all, but I am just very uncomfortable with the whole "miss" thing." Mia sputtered out. After a couple of seconds she continued her explanation "It´s just very formal. And I guess that makes me nervous and uneasy." Mia said, hoping she made some kind of sense despite her blabbering so much.

Reid looked at her surprisingly. He was glad that he diden´t seem to have made a bad impression.

"Sure I don´t think that´s a problem...Mia" Reid said.

"Thank you very much, Dr. Reid" Mia said in a somewhat relieved voice.

"You know, the people I work with call me Reid? You could do that if you like, although my name is Spencer. You could call me that too, if you´d prefer that?" Reid blabbered, suddenly feeling nervous.

Mia looked at him surprisingly. She haden´t expected things to turn out like this.

"Sure, I´d like that...Spencer" Mia said, also feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"Okay, well thanks again for all your help. I guess I´ll might come back another day." Reid said, trying not to let his sputtering of the words show to much.

"You´re welcome, and please feel free to call or drop by if there is anything else Dr. Milford or I can help you with. Goodbye...Spencer" Mia said.

"Goodbye... Mia" Reid answered as he did a little wave and walked out the door.

9


End file.
